A Jewish Woman's Appeal of Murder in Thirteenth-Century England (original) (raw)
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This thesis will explore the emergence and development of the narrative that Jews ritually killed Christian children in twelfth and thirteenth century England. The role that these accusations played in ‘demonising’ Jews did not diminish during the following centuries but instead grew in popularity. The accusations that gave rise to these narratives have their origin in the specific social, cultural, and religious environment of twelfth century England. Historians have long treated the accusations of ritual murder as separate events and analysed them as such. However, the power of these accusations lies in their ability to be constructed as narratives and to spread through adaption into different communities and societies. This adaption is due to the ability that these narratives have to incorporate other narratives that are popular in different communities. Hagiographical elements, Marian tales, and biblical stories that manipulation of the innocence of children were incorporated into the narratives of ritual murder which served to elicit a specific emotive response and engagement with their audience. This development in the nature of the ritual murder narratives is a reflection of both English society and the changing nature of the Anglo-Jewish relationship during the central Middle Ages. This thesis will add to the evolving discussions surrounding the emergence of ritual murder and the subsequent spread of the blood libel accusation. By tracing the accusations back to their origin in England, and analysing how it evolved during the space of two centuries, an increasingly comprehensive understanding of the narratives can be constructed. By utilising hagiographical material, chronicle accounts, and literature created in post-expulsion England, this thesis aims to present a cohesive analysis of different narrative strands that were woven together to construct and develop the accusations of ritual murder.
From Anti-Judaism to Anti-Semitism? The Development of the Myth of Jewish Ritual Murder in England
Accusations of Jewish ritual murder have persisted into the modern era, but the medieval origins of the accusation reflect the society from which it emerged. Between 1066 and 1290 the perception and position of the Jewish population in England changed. This period also witnessed the origins of the ritual murder accusations. In 1144 the accusation was dismissed by a majority of the population; by 1255 it was accepted by the Christian community and the Jews were the first place they turned when the body of the child was found. By locating the changing position of the Jewish community, and then comparing the development of the ritual murder accusations between the case of William of Norwich and Hugh of Lincoln, it allows the Jewish community to be viewed from a different vantage point. This dissertation will also critique Gavin Langmuir’s conception of medieval anti-Semitism, by exploring the alleged ‘irrational’ nature of the ritual murder accusation. The argument will be made, that they are also based in rational financial and societal concerns, and thus not the ‘irrational’ manifestations that Langmuir outlined. By the murder of Hugh in 1255, these accusations had passed into folk legend and taken on a more malevolent form but still had a rational financial underpinning. The accusation became part of the general perception of the Jews, and lasted long after the Jews were expelled. The development of the rituals, is key to understanding the way that the position of the Jews was changing in English society
Trial by Ordeal by Jury in Medieval England, or Saints and Sinners in Literature and Law
Using a miracle tale as a focal point, this paper illuminates the political and cultural context of York at the turn of the twelfth to thirteenth century in order to make sense of England's rapid transition from trial by ordeal to trial by jury after 1215. More specifically, the paper highlights the possible impact of the period of papal interdict (c. 1208 – 1214), imposed by Pope Innocent III in response to King John's intransigence over the appointment of a new archbishop of Canterbury, during this transitional period in criminal procedure. It argues that the interdict, with its suspension of liturgies, might have forced experimentation with alternative means of reaching verdicts in felony cases. The paper also suggests that juries might have been involved in the issuance of ordeal verdicts in the late ordeal period in England, in which case the shift from trial by ordeal to trial by jury may be less a moment of rupture than a transition from one form of trial using juries to another, albeit a trial form more starkly desacralized after 1215. It is the author's hope that the paper will serve as a starting point for further research, not a decisive answer to the questions it raises, including whether England's rapid adoption of final jury verdicts may owe something to the tussle between King John and a particularly imperial and imperious pope.
Cruentation, Medieval Anti-Jewish Polemic, and Ritual Murder
Antisemitism Studies, 2019
In his Bonum universale de apibus (On Bees), the Dominican Thomas of Cantimpré recorded several instances in which the corpse of a murder victim spontaneously effused blood in the presence of the murderer. In one of these stories, Thomas provided an account of a ritual murder (ca. 1260). In this article, I examine the relationship between this phenomenon of "cruentation" and the anti-Jewish exemplum. I also identify some of the distinctive features of the tale, including the claim that the Jews typically harvest the blood of their Christian victims in order to address certain defects in their own nature. Finally, I examine the unusual identification of the Christian victim as female in relation to another ritual murder account at Valreás in 1247.
2008
In 1403, a Jewish midwife, Floreta, widow of Aquinon d'Ays, was brought before the criminal court of Marseille to answer for the death in childbirth of a Christian woman. Floreta was charged with having performed a procedure that precipitated the patient's haemorrhaging and death. This is the first known case of a malpractice trial against a midwife and an unusual case of anti-Judaic sentiment in a city hitherto quite tolerant of its Jewish minority population. Aside from Floreta's statements in her own defence, all the recorded testimony comes from Christian women who were present in the birthroom, giving us a rare glimpse inside that female preserve. Although the final outcome of the case is not known, Floreta vigorously appealed the ruling that she be tortured to elicit a confession. This essay presents an edition and translation of a portion of the trial record, setting it into the context of Marseille legal procedure, obstetrical knowledge of the time, and changes in anti-Judaic sentiment in early fifteenth-century Marseille. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1016/j.jmedhist.2008.03.001#preview Feel free to contact me via e-mail if you have any queries: monica.green@asu.edu.